John Kerry has denied that he made a comment about Israel becoming an "apartheid state". (Photo: Reuters)
Reuters

Israel tapped U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's phone while he was negotiating for a ceasefire in the Middle-East. Der Spiegel reported on Sunday, Aug 3, that Israeli intelligence secretly listened to what Kerry spoke over the phone.

According to the German news weekly, another intelligence eavesdropped while Kerry negotiated for an end of violence in the battling region in Asia. This information may seem ironical as it is the U.S. intelligence which has recently been accused of eavesdropping major national leaders' phones. Now that Israel pays back U.S. in its own coin, the situation may get edgier between Israel and the United States. According to Spiegel, the relation between the two countries, which are known as allies, has already been "tense" lately. The eavesdropping incident apparently took place in 2013 when Kerry was involved in an unsuccessful peace negotiation in the Middle-East.

Kerry used two types of phones during his conversation. While he used encrypted phones, he also used standard phones which were tapped by Israeli spies, according to reports. Israel apparently "used" the information it got from Kerry's conversations during the peace negotiations. Kerry is a major force behind the international initiative to bring peace in Israel and Palestine. Israel started its offensive on July 8 and managed to kill 1,650 Palestinians so far. Hamas, which - according to Israel and several Western nations - is a terrorist organisation, killed 65 Israelis.

The relation between Israel and the United States seems to confuse many. While Kerry and his government has been highly criticised by Israel during the peace talks, some of the Israeli leaders have also asked Kerry to withdraw himself from peace negotiations. The U.S. government, on the other hand, continues to support Israel in several fields, politically and otherwise. The U.S. Congress voted on Friday, Aug 1, in favour of funding $225 million for Israel's missile defence force.

Initiating peace talks on one hand and funding Israeli missiles on another, the U.S. government may have its own reasons for both.